Michael Malott gets a mud run win at the Local Joe Series - 5/12/12 by DJ

Reported by Michael Malott - The first round of the Local Joe race series kicked off last weekend at SRI Raceway in Louisville, KY. They had a great turnout with 168 entries. I signed up for Pro 4wd SC and 1/8 Electric Buggy which were the 2 biggest classes with 40 in E Buggy & 42 in Pro 4wd SC. I knew it was going to be a long day & it was going to take some good runs to even be in the A mains or at the top of the sheets.

The Pro 4wd SC class was the biggest class of the race day with 42 entries. I had went through my OFNA Hyper 10 the week before the race & I was feeling confident about the way the truck had been over the winter. I got to the track early to try and get a couple pack on the truck & get it loosened up & all the new parts broken in. I changed the setup a couple times in practice & finally found a setup that I was comfortable with. The first round of quals kicked off & my truck was starting to get better. I was able to take TQ for the round & the only 4wd SC to be on an 11 lap pace. The second qual came around & I made a tire change to try & see if I could better my time & to just try different things that would work later in the day. The tires I went to were a little slower & I slowed down a little. On other guy stepped it up & beat my TQ from the first round by 2 seconds. I knew I had to step it up & go back on the tires I was fast on. The track had gotten a lot faster the 3rd round with the overcast skies moving in. I got off to a good start & the leader & I were both ahead of the overall TQ pace by 7 sec. We were on almost identical times about halfway through the qual I started pushing the pace a little more & took over the lead with about 1 minute to go I jumped the quad & a wind gust caught my truck in the air & I couldn't correct it & I crashed on the landing handing the lead back over. He ended up taking the overall TQ by .8 sec. I was bummed but I knew I had the pace & I was ready for the main. The overcast skies brought in some rain & the track was getting wet. The track took a vote to finish the races as long as the rain stayed at a drizzle. Halfway through the mains the track had gotten really wet & the rain had picked up a little so they started cutting the mains down. The main came around & I really didn't want to have to run but almost all the guys in the class decided we should so I was game. When the main got started I got off to a terrible start. The leader stumbled & I got into the back of him spinning my truck around & up over the tube. The whole field went by & I was almost down half a lap before the first corner. I was already not happy about running the main so I started charging really hard & making passes left & right. About halfway through the main I had gotten to 4th & the lead pack was right in front of me. The track was so muddy & the trucks were starting to get so heavy & weighed down with all the mud that you could barely do the jumps. The leaders were starting to slow down and singling the jumps. My Tekin Pro 4 powered truck was still able to do some of the jumps & I was able to get around & into 2nd after a couple of the guys had thermal shutdowns & had to pull off. With about 1 minute to go I had reeled in the leader & made the pass on him. I got around for the lead & was able to cruise in for the win after he pulled off after his truck had a thermal shutdown. At the end of the 8 minute main I had came out on top and was the only truck not to thermal or run out of battery. It was the muddiest & nastiest race I have ever been a part of. The truck weighed about 14 lbs. with all the mud on it but my Tekin power & AKA tires pulled me to the win.

All in all it was a pretty good day. Thanks again to all my sponsors for giving me awesome products to run.

Reported by Chad Bradley - Some Nexx10SC action at Hot Rod Hobbies - I finally got a little break from some nitro racing and finally got to do some racing with my Nexx10SC! Strait from the main at Nitro Challenge, I busted out my truck for some club racing at my local track and it worked perfect. Kinda of light turn out Friday night but the racing was still good and a new layout to race on. The layout is fun and pretty technical, there's a unique snake burm on the left side of the track, that the fast line is to cut over the burm to use both inside parts. Next on the layout is an easy step up and into a triple that's important to stay tight on the landing (best place to pass), after a couple 180's is the step up table top that has a jump at the end of it that you triple off. This jump is hard to time, the best line I figured out to land the triple smoothly is jump far onto the table top and take advantage of the light weight Nexx10SC and triple off. The last jump is split double just before the sweeper leading onto the front strait. Onto the racing, I was able to TQ both rounds of qualifying and was able to hit some lap times less than a second slower than the nitro cars! We ran a reversed grid for the 8 minute main, I was able to get up to second on the first lap and take the lead on the second. I took a corner little tight and wreck and lost the lead to Fowler, couple laps later I got back into the lead and took the win over Mike Allen who finished second and Kelez in third.

Pierre Kiti get his win in his three day old X3 Sabre at Grass Roots #4 5/6/12 by DJ

Reported by Pierre Kiti - Sunday was the 4th round of the Grass Roots Series out at Palm Desert Raceway, so me and a group of others from our local San Diego clan headed out there to do some racing and enjoy the 90+ whether. The day started out well as I began to practice with the new Hong Nor X3 Sabre. I set out to get a feel for the car and new track layout. The X3 Sabre and tire choice felt great! Quals began and I was off to a good start as I won my first heat in the Sportsman Class. Everything worked well, so I decided to not make any setup changes and go into the next round the same. Round two went well and I ended up winning that qual too. This put me in third overall qualifing for the A-Main. The main started out well and I was off to a early lead. I then traded positions for the lead a few times but kept a steady pace. After I pitted at 8 minutes, I was in 2nd place and shortly after a few laps the leader flamed out. From then on out I held onto the first place position and was able to lap 2nd place and take home the win. This was my first race with the new X3 Sabre and I only had the buggy for just a few days prior to the race, AWSOME RIDE!

In the other class of 40+, Dj our Team Manager headed out with us and raced his way to a 2nd place for the class, He was also driving the Sabre. We both had a very good day of racing challenging for positions and using good strategies to make the podium. Dj told me that I was the third X3 to take wins in the Sportman class in the last three Grass Roots Races, first James Grossaint, then George Ghaby and now me. I'm sure that the next race will have more X3's battling it out for the win.

Reported by Gil Alontoga - Journey started driving down to La Paz, Mexico for the 2nd annual Baja Nitro Challenge. Arriving there and inspecting the track was key to finding the correct setup and tire that would eventually lead to winning the event in pro buggy. After the first day of practice I decided to raise my shock oil by 2.5 to 45 front and 35 rear. I starred of with our fellow driver DJ Sandate's base set up. Raising shock oil made a huge difference with it being so hot (90-95deg.). After running half of my first qualifier and having engine problems, I borrowed an engine from a good friend of mine and went for it all in the 2nd qualifier. Tq'd and fast lap the 2nd qualifier, while still trying to tune the borrowed engine for the third qualifier, I went for it again. The track had changed so much due to the type of sandy dirt and amount of traffic that drove on the track that my tire choice wasn't the best. I fell of the Tq pace with 1 minute to go on the clock on the third qualifier, as the track got really bumpy and loose. We all prepped the our cars in the night for mains the next day, I Qualified 2nd overall in qualifying therefore did not have to run the semi's, top three had to just run the main. In the main I started right behind Hot Bodies Mexican pro driver Felipe Martinez, the tone went off and immediately Felipe and I ran away from the pack switching position almost every two laps for the first 10 minutes. My Hong Nor X3 Sabre was so easy to drive under pressure that I didn't have a worry in the race I would have a great performance. After a huge crash from Felipe that allowed me to gain about half a lap on 2nd place. I never looked back and was able to stretch my lead to almost a 2 lap lead, after driving 30 minutes I crossed the finish line while driving on stock Hong Nor tires that came with the kit, amazing that these tires would help me get the win. My X3 Sabre was outstanding and from going to my local high bite track to a track I don't run on regularly with a looser condition, just small changes made the buggy adapt and handle,in just a short time I have managed to keep my pace and go faster. After I won I had plenty of inquiries on the new car, it's a good win for the Sabre.

Grass Roots #4 in Sportsman is won by Ghaby in his X3 Sabre 4/22/12 by DJ

Reported by Dj Sandate- George Ghaby took his win for race #4 at the Grass Roots Series as it took place at Hemet Competition Raceway. With temps in the 90's the track would change fast during the qualifiers as it would go from a watered track during the warm-up to quickly drying fast for the race so getting used to the change would prove a challenge. The track itself was also very technical with elevation changes, short but high triple section, and tight kicker whoop section and a very fast 5 pack double-double-single section( this is were it would be the equalizer during the the races). Ghaby would take his X3 to the top of the grid for the TQ keeping it together in his 2nd round to take the top spot for the main. The main would be a little rough at the start as the grid was really close together Ghaby would start first but the first corner was not there for him as he caught a pipe taking him back a couple positions before the first jump and would have to work back to 1st after two laps as other drivers were wheeling each-other and getting tied up for Ghaby to catch fast. The 15min. race would have the X3 stretch its lead lap by lap for a two pit strategy, but on the 2nd pit George flamed out getting fuel but the lead was so far that he still maintained the margin for 1st and continued on for the win. This was a good win for George as he showed good speed even from the last Grass Roots race at Thunder Alley and was leading that race when he had engine malfunction that cost him the win, so this is redemption.

Congrates to George for the win

2012 OFNA Catalog is OnLine! by davegm

2012 OFNA CatalogClick the link for OFNA's new 108 page full color catalog, showing new Kits/RTR's plus Parts offered by OFNA this year!

X3 Sabre wins at Grass Roots #3- 3/25/12 by DJ

Reported by James Grossaint - Friday: It all started with 1 phone call, Dj & I were off to the world famous Thunder Alley in Beaumont California. Sunday would be Rnd 3 of the Grass Roots Series & at a track like Thunder Alley race day prep isn't enough. With tons of elevation changes, woops, large check up jump & a huge transition jump this layout would require a good setup & controlled line. Toward the end of Friday we both felt like our cars had good setups but Dj was not finished. So with those famous words " one last tank" I threw his car down & watched in amazement as he went full throttle at their check up jump shooting 10' up continuing to push his motor full throttle 20,000 RPM'S doing the PERFECT back flip. Once we all calmed down he continued to back flip until the tank was empty, 7 in all.

Sunday: Race day was here & fellow X3 driver George Gaby showed up giving us 3 chances to win! There were 11 Heats & about 85 entries, George & I both ran the Sportsman Buggy class which was stacked with two full heats, Dj ran 40+ buggy with big names such a Barry Baker would prove hard to podium. George & I continued to battle back & forth for TQ both putting up 9 lap runs. George was able to hold me off by 1.2 sec putting the X3 1,2 for the main. Dj battle with low idle issues the first round & after multiple take outs from other drivers round two put him middle pack. With dark clouds, cold wind & the threat of rain approaching we were all worried the mains would not run.With mother nature on our side we got to the main. It would be a fast 15 minute race, With a bad start dropping me to last & George getting a clean 1/2 track lead I had my work cut out. I was able to drive clean & run consistent thanks to the X3 & get back up to 2nd place. With lady luck looking over I caught a break when George's motor flamed out giving me the lead. I know had to worry about the new 2nd place which was 8 sec. back. I managed stay calm as my Pit-man DJ was giving me info on where 2nd was at,I drove smooth & let the X3 do its job building a 15 sec. lead going into the last minute. I was able to hold off the field & keep the lead. I want to thank Ofna, Dj & George, all of their help to this win & hopefully more!!!

Dirt Oval Pro goes 1-2-3 at Nitro Barn in Cherryville - 3/10/12 by DJ

Reported by Randy DeLapp - Saturday night indoor dirt oval racing at The Nitro Barn in Cherryville, NC was jamming once again. This 150+’ smooth as glass dirt oval track provides some great racing. 40+ cars in 4 different classes showed up for a regular club race. I run the 1/8th scale limited late model class. I have been blessed with a lot of good runs with my OFNA Dirt Oval Pro car the last few months, including winning the Ice Breakers race back in January. The only thing that has put a cloud over all of it has been that my nemesis and very good friend, Rick Talbot, has not been there. I have not been able to beat Rick, who also drives an OFNA Dirt Oval Pro. The questions would be answered on this night for he made his return. Practice was not very good for me because I was breaking in a new set of BSR tires and also I spent a lot of time helping Mike Stines, who was running his first race in 1/8th scale limited late model. In the first round of heat races I had to watch some of the other classes and the times they was turning. With doing this and looking back on my notes, I was able to make a decision on my setup changes. This proved to be pretty close. I tq’d with 44 laps in 4 minutes. Rick qualified 2nd also with 44 laps in 4 minutes. I knew then it was going to be a dog fight. In the 2nd and last heat everyone in our heat was up on the wheel a little more. Track conditions was getting better and the field really tightened up. Rick and myself was able to hold on to the top 2 qualifying spots. We had a quick round of open practice before the A-main. I was on BSR 25’s all the way around. I bolted on BSR 30’s on the right side and went out and ran a few laps. I knew then I had a good car for the A-main. I knew Rick stayed on BSR 25’s as well as the rest of the field. I had to tip toe through the first couple of laps and I fell to 2nd, but once the car came in I was able to regain the top spot and held it for the rest of the race. I edged out Rick by 7 tenths of a second for the win. Finishing 3rd was Arnie Fie, who was also driving an OFNA Dirt Oval Pro. This was a very big win for me. The competition level every week is getting better. Thanks to everyone at OFNA, BSR Tires and ZnZ Hobbies.

DM-1S Nitro wins the International Copa Del Pacifico 2012 by davegm

Nitro DM-1S #34303, takes the win in Peru at the 2012 Copa Del Pacifico International. This popular event was attended by all manufacturers and their Pro teams. The video attached shows a beautiful track and a flawless event.

Pos

Driver

Car

1st

Pato Concha(Chile)

DM-1s

2nd

Paolo Morganti(USA)

Cobra GT

3rd

Esven Hase(Germany)

IGT2

Hong Nor X3 Sabres racing at the Philippine Masters 3/4/12 by DJ

Reported by BoMag an RCTech.net member - We had the Philippine Masters over the weekend & two X3's took podium in A-main while one taking 1st in D main. Not bad since there were only 5 X3's in a field of 60+entries.

The day started out for me doing a 1 tank practice run. Buggy felt OK but not to how I wanted it to be. I talked with a mate & options were thrown in the air on what i can do.. I decided to switch back to the stock rear wheel hex(Huge thanks Denis). Start of quals the buggy felt much better for the track condition. I set the pace the entire 1st round of quals by being the only one to turn in 17 laps! Possible TQ? The rest of my quals went ok but with some errors but still managing 17 laps for both 2nd & 3rd quals. By now more people were turning in 17's. Bad news for me as I lost TQ position. However,good news is TQ goes to a mate with an X3! I ended up starting 3rd on the A-main grid while other X3's started 2nd & 9th on the grid. Barely halfway on the 1st lap, I got rear ended on an off camber turn causing me to flip over By the time the marshal was able to get me back up,I was back last..15th! Dismayed with what just happened,I repeatedly thought to myself "..easy, it's an hour long race". Got myself settled and back racing. 15min into the main,I was back battling for 3rd. About 30-35min into the race of the race, still battling for 3rd,traction increased and became to twitchy for my set up (I take it back Denis for not reminding me). This threw my timing off & made me make errors!

At the end,I managed to take 3rd while my buddy who TQed took 2nd!

Malott has another win with Hyper at JCP Raceway 2/26/12 by DJ

Reported by Michael Malott - We had a small group of racers in this class as well. My Pro 4 has been good all year so I decided to run it as well. In the first qual I had a really good run and was able to put in 1 of the fastest qual runs I have ran on the current layout and take the overall TQ for the round and would keep that TQ throughout the whole day. In the second and 2nd and 3rd quals I had trouble and couldn't figure it out. Between the rounds and the main I finally found the problem and was able to get it fixed before the main. In the main I got off to a great start and was pushing hard to get away from the field. Once I got away from the field I settled in and was able to put a lap on the field and cruise home for an easy win. My Tekin powered Hyper 10 SC "Bump" was once again dialed in the whole day and made for a fun day of racing.

Randy wins with his OFNA Dirt Oval Pro at The Nitro Barn – 2/11/12 by DJ

Reported by Randy Delapp -This past weekend I raced at The Nitro Barn in Cherryville, NC. This is one of the finest indoor dirt oval’s in the country. This track’s 60’ straight-aways, 20 degree banked corners, smooth as glass packed clay provides some of the best dirt oval racing there is. I ran the 1/8th scale limited late model class with my OFNA Dirt Oval Pro. There was 70+ cars in 6 different classes for just a regular Saturday night show. This is one of the very few tracks around that lets us run nitro indoors. I started out the day on my BSR 25’s all the way around. In the 2nd of 3 rounds of heat races, I tq’d with 46 laps in 4 minutes. By the time the 3rd and final heat rolled around, the track had picked up a ton of grip. My car went to the tight side, fortunately my OS21VG motor with O’donnell fuel produces enough power to bail me out of that condition. Before the A-Main I made come changes on my car. I kept the BSR25’s on the left and put BSR 30’s on the right. I went up one spring rate on the right rear. This proved to be a great move. I won the A-Main with 47 laps in 4 minutes. Finishing 2nd was Shawn Treadaway, 3rd was Steve Scearce, who both also drive an OFNA 1/8th scale Dirt Oval Pro. I’d like to thank OFNA for the opportunity they give me to drive such a wonderful car, John at BSR tires for providing me the best dirt oval tire made, and ZNZ Hobbies of Lexington, NC for everything else I need.

A Cash Win for Malott with his Hyper 10sc at JCP Indoor - 2/11/12 by DJ

Reported by Michael Malott - This weekend we had a special event at our local track for a fellow rc racer who lost his wife suddenly a couple weeks ago. The benefit race was a great way to give back to a fellow racer, but as all of us being racers, we were also there to have a good time and to try and bring home the win. I decided to run 2 classes as I have been most of the winter I ran 2wd mod buggy and 4wd SC.

The Pro 4 class was another big class and we saw the best crowd in this class we have had all year as well. My truck has been solid all year and I was ready to try and take home another win in this class for the year. A couple of the guys have really stepped it up and picked up the pace over the last few weeks. In practice my truck was dialed so I didn't make any changes before the quals. In the first qual I was able to get out front early and was making good time on a solid run. Half way through the run my car started acting up and glitching at times but I was still able to put in a solid run and take the TQ for the first round. In the second round I was once again able to get out front. I was trying a new line on the front section of the track and made to many mistakes. I was still able to take the win in the heat but was almost a lap under my TQ time. The 3rd round we had a great battle between myself and the other top 2 guys. I finished 2nd for the round and the winner of the 3rd round was able to take the top spot on the last couple laps. In the dash for cash they inverted the top 6 qualifiers so I started 5th on the grid. At the start of the race I got a great jump and the top 3 guys all took each other out in the first corner. In the second corner I got punted out of the way and had to be marshaled. I got back going again but had been dropped back to 3rd. I started really pushing the pace and quickly closed on the leaders. I was able to make a move on both of them when I aired it out on the triple-single on the front section of the track. I got by both of them and pushed the pace for a couple laps and was able to get away and take the easy win for the cash. In the main I started second on the grid and I knew my truck was fast I just had to not take any chance and make stupid mistakes. The race got underway and the first lap I aired it out over the leader on the front section and took the early lead. The second lap I knew he was going to got for the pass on the front section so I tried to triple again and this time it didn't work and I crashed and had to be marshaled and was dropped back to 3rd. I just settled in and was running a clean smart race slowly reeling in the leaders. They were battling pretty hard and it allowed me to close the gap quickly. I was able to make a clean inside pass on the fast sweeper and get into 2nd from there I was putting a lot of pressure on the leader. We came up on the front stretch section and he tried doing the triple and cased it and flipped over handing me the lead. From there I just ran a good clean race and I had the front triple single down and was hitting it every lap and putting more time on the field and was able to cruise home for the win. My Hyper 10sc and AKA tires were dialed all day. My Tekin RX8, Pro 4 4000 motor, and speedzone batteries gave me all the power I needed to make the front section with ease. The PT RC oils have been so smooth and consistent all year I never have to worry about my shock or diffs oils.

Thanks to all my sponsors for the great products.

Michael Malott

Maglinte takes class win at Arc's Snowman Series - 2/4/12 by DJ

Reported by Marc Maglinte - DJ , James G, and myself went to ARC Raceway in Temecula, Ca. for round 2 of the Snowman Series. I was able to tq in the first round but back markers in the 2nd round had slowed me down enough to from going faster so I lost TQ.

James was running his X3-Sabre also and was fast starting on the A-main grid right behind me in 4th. In round 2 I made little changes to my X3 and while doing so I went faster but was unable to get the TQ neither did James. So the main in Sportman was going to be another thriller as two X3's were showing the speed. At the start of the race I was able to get out in front and lead the race for some time and James would battle it out with Tom Roberts for 2nd until Roberts mad mistakes for James to get away and charge to the front. At a point in the race James and I where 1 and 2 racing for the lead but working together through traffic dodging left,right and over several cars while still trying race for the win, back markers would eventually catch one of us and dump our buggy and that was James and suffered a flame out while upside down and put him out of contention with just a couple minutes to go. When time expired I crossed the line in the 1st position for the win , my Hong Nor X3-Sabre was so good in the race from start to finish it was not hard to stay up front as the buggy was doing everything it needed to do to win. Thanks to team mates and good friend , Mike Acero, DJ Sandate and James Grossaint for all the help and advice.

It was a good win and celebration at Pechnaga Casino with a killer dinner buffet, LET'S GO WIN AGAIN BOYS!!!

Pos

Driver

Buggy

1st

MARC MAGLINTE

X3 Sabre

2nd

BRIAN CROSS

MBX

3rd

TOM ROBERTS

MBX

Chad wins with his Nexx10sc 4x4 - 2/6/12 by davegm

Reported by Chad Bradley - A descent turnout Saturday night with 8 full heats at Hot Rod Hobbies. In the Pro 4 SC class with a freshly rebuilt Nexx10SC, Chad Bradley set the TQ in round 1 of qualifying and set a personal best overall time with the Novak/Protek powered Nexx10SC. Scott Ashforth and Mark Helms rounded out the top 3 in qualifying. In the 8 min main, Chad lead out at the start while the rest of the pack battled it out on the first lap. Chad cruised to the win while Scott and Mark battled for the 2nd and 3rd positions.

Reported by Michael Malott -This weekend I went to a local club race to get some track time and put in some laps. I decided to just run my Pro 4 SC and try some things out on it to see how I liked the changes.

Pro 4 SC : I put in a lot of laps with the truck this weekend and tried a lot of different things. I liked the changes I made but I kept finding myself going back to my original setup and tire combination. We had a pretty good turnout for a club race and they cut it down to 2 qualifiers. I made changes in both of the qualifiers and I could not get a clean run in to save myself and I ended up qualifying 2nd for the night. I was happy with that knowing I was trying different things and trying to get the truck better. In between the last qual and the main I made some more changes and put the truck back to what I had been running and went back to the tires that have been working for me and my truck was on rails. In the main I got off to a great start and was able to get by the leader on the first lap. I was able to get away a little bit at the start and just kept charging and putting in solid fast laps. I went on to take the win and run the only 29 lap race of the class to set a new track record for the current layout. I had a really solid race day and was able to get in a lot of good practice and race laps. I am really happy with my truck and my setup. I look forward to running this class a lot the rest of the winter and over the summer. Pro 4 will be one of the classes I put a lot of focus into at the big races and locally. It is becoming one of the larger classes in our area and I hope to be able to stay up front.